Coordinatograph



March 26, 1968 B. R. BACHMANN GOORDINATOGRAPH Filed Oct. 10, 1966 m r: E2 1.1..

INVENTOR Bernhard R. Bachmann kim/WV aw United States Patent 3,374,543 COORDINATOGRAPH Bernhard R. Bachmann, Koniz, Switzerland, assignor to Haag-Streit A.G., Liebefeld-Bern, Switzerland Filed Oct. 10, 1966, Ser. No. 585,341 Claims priority, application Germany, Oct. 22, 1965, H 57,495 7 Claims. (CI. 33-18) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A coordinatograph having a carriage adjustable accordiug to rectangular coordinates, a ruler firmly attachable to the drawing table of the coordinatograph, guide means associated with said carriage and removably engaging said ruler for guiding said carriage along said ruler, and an angle-measuring instrument indicating the angle of said ruler relatively to said rectangular coordinates.

This invention relates to a coordinatograph comprising a carriage adjustable according to rectangular coordinates and a system adjustable according to polar coordinates attached to and displaceable as a whole with said carriage, the center of said polar system coinciding with the point adjusted according to rectangular coordinates.

In a prior coordinatograph of this type the polar system is an integral part of the coordinatograph and cannot be removed without complete dismantling of the mechanism. However, the coordinatograph is often used for work exclusively in rectangular coordinates, whereby the polar system hinders easy operation of the coordinatograph. Moveover, although the center of the polar system of the prior coordinatograph coincides with the point adjusted in the rectangular coordinate system, it is impossible to shift the drawing implement of the polar system into this point adjusted in the rectangular system, whereby the drawing facilities are very much reduced. As an example, it is impossible to draw a line according to rectangular coordinates to a predetermined point and to continue the line directly from this point by means of the polar system. Complicated readjustment is necessary when continuous lines should be drawn with the prior instrument.

It is a first object of this invention to provide an auxiliary polar system or device, removably attachable to the carriage.

It is another object of this invention to provide an auxiliary polar system allowing shifting of its drawing implement or measuring implement into the point adjusted in accordance with rectangular coordinates or even to use the same drawing and measuring implements for work in rectangular and polar coordinates.

The coordinatograph according to this invention broadly comprises a polar system including an auxiliary polar device adjustable according to polar coordinates and removably attached to said carriage, said auxiliary device having a ruler displaceable into any desired angular position relatively to said carriage and guide means adapted for displacement along said ruler and adapted for guiding an implement of said auxiliary polar device along a line including the point adjusted in the system of rectangular coordinates.

In a preferred embodiment of this invention the coordinatograph comprises a rail, said carriage being displaceable'along said rail, an auxiliary carriage removably placed on said rail at the side of said carriage and adapted for displacement along the rail, disengageable coupling means interconnecting said carriage and auxiliarly carriage, a ruler firmly attachable to the table of the coordinatograph, said guide means being attached to an Patented Mar. 26, 1968 angle-measuring instrument of said auxiliary carriage and removably engaging said ruler.

In this case no modification of the said carriage of the coordinatograph except for an attachment for the said coupling means, for instance a coupling rod, are required. It is possible to use the existing measuring and drawing instruments of the coordinatograph because all elements serving for adjusting the angular position of the auxiliary polar device are located on the said auxiliary carriage completely separate from the carriage of the coordinatograph. The construction of the auxiliary polar device is not rendered diificult and no limitations in the design of this device are encountered by the necessity of displacing special drawing and measuring instruments of the auxiliary device into the center of the auxiliary polar system. Sufficient space is available for the measuring and adjusting equipment serving for adjustment of the angle in the polar system by other measuring and adjusting equipment mounted on the carriage, because the complete equipment for angular adjustment may be located on the auxiliary carriage.

This invention will now be explained in detail with reference to the accompanying drawing wherein- FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the invention and FIG. 2 is a section of the guiding carriage and supporting shaft for the same of the auxiliary carriage.

The coordinatograph shown in FIG. 1 has an ordinate rail 1 guided for displacement along an abscissa rail 3 by means of an abscissa carriage 2. The right-hand end of the ordinate rail 1 not shown in FIG. 1 is supported on and displaceable along another rail parallel to the abscissa rail 3. An ordinate carriage 4 is mounted on the ordinate rail for displacement along this rail. The abscissa carriage and ordinate carriage have each a dial 5 indicating the position of the carriage relatively to the zero point of a rectangular coordinate system. The ordinate carriage 4 has a support for a drawing instrument 6. The parts described above are the essential parts of a classical coordinatograph allowing adjustment of the drawing instrument or of a measuring instrument replacing the same according to rectangular coordinates.

At the side of the ordinate carriage 4 an auxiliary carriage 7 is mounted on the ordinate rail 1, this auxiliary carriage 7 having a shaft 8 supporting a guide carriage 9. The shaft 8 is pivotably mounted in a tubular support of the carriage 7 and it is connected to the dial of an optical measuring instrument 10 for adjusting the desired angular position of the shaft 8 and carriage 9 respectively. The measuring instrument 10 has a dial rotatable relatively to a fixed Vernier scale and an optical system for observation of the dial and vernier. The guiding carrier 9 has rollers 11 engaging slightly inclined guiding surfaces 12 of a ruler 13, whereby the guiding carriage is guided without clearance on the ruler 13 and may be displaced along the same. The ruler 13 has a suction cup 14 at each end thereof. The cups 14 are connected to a suitable vacuum pump 'by means of a flexible tube extending from the one end of the rule 13 shown at the bottom in FIG. 1, whereby the ruler is firmly fixed in a predetermined position on the drawing paper attached to the table of the coordinatograph.

As shown in FIG. 2, the guiding carrier 9 is pivotably mounted round a horizontal shaft 15 of the shaft 8. The conical ends of the shaft 15 engage into ball bearings 16 so that the guiding carrier is rotatably mounted on the shaft 8 practically without clearance and friction.

The carriages 4 and 7 are coupled by means of a coupling rod 17. The coupling rod 17 engages a through bore of the ordinate carriage 4 and is fixed in a clamping sleeve operable by means of a nut 18. The carriage 7 has a through bore for taking up the coupling rod 17 which may 3 be fixed in this bore by one clamping screws 19. Similar clamping screws may also be used on the ordinate carriage 4 for fixing the coupling rod 17 in the bore instead of the clamping sleeve mentioned above. It is thus possible to place the auxiliary carriage .7 at the one or other side of the ordinate carriage 4, be-

cause coupling of the carriages is always possible by means of the coupling rod 17 extending from the one or other end of the through bores of the carriages.

The drawing instrument 6 mounted in the ordinate carriage 4 carries a disc 20 at its upper end having four notches 21 spaced by 90 from each other. A rod 22 mounted in a radial extension of a sleeve 23 engages one of the notches 21. The sleeve 23 is rotatable relatively to the drawing instrument, the angular position of the sleeve 23 and rod 22 respectively being readable on a dial 24 by means of a zero mark on the extension of sleeve 23.

The coordinatograph as shown in FIG. 1 is ready for drawing a line under a predetermined angle relatively to the ordinate rail. This angle is determined by the position of the ruler 13. The carriages 4 and 7 are free for displacement along the ordinate rail 1. When the ordinate rail 1 is now displaced along the abscissa rail 3 the guiding carriage 9 is displaced along the ruler 13 whereby the carriages 4 and 7 coupled to each other are displaced along the ordinate rail 1 in accordance with the inclination of the ruler 13 so that the drawing instrument 6 is displaced in a direction parallel to the ruler 13. When the drawing instrument'6 is a burin for cutting coated drawing paper, this burin should be positioned substantially parallel to the direction of the line to be drawn. This adjustment is feasible by turning the sleeve 23 to an angle equal to the angle of the ruler 13, the corresponding angle being readable on the dial 24. This dial may be limited to an angular range of 90 whereby the selection of the desired quadrant is effected, by insertion of the rod 22 into the proper notch 21 of disc 20, this being possible by lifting and turning the disc 20 together with the drawing instrument which is loosely and removably inserted into a supporting sleeve of the ordinate carriage in amanner well known per se.

For readjustment of the coordinatograph for another angle, the vacuum in suction cups 14 of ruler 13 is stopped for instance by changing over an air valve, whereafter the ruler 13 may be shifted to any desired other position until 'the measuring instrument indicates the desired new angular position. Preferably the dial of the measuring instrument is numbered from 0 to 360 in both directions for facilitating reading and adjustment of the desired angle by means of the optical observing equipment. When the desired angle has been adjusted, the ruler 13 is again firmly attached to the drawing paper by admitting vacuum to the suction cups 14. As shown in FIG. 2, the shaft 8 of the auxiliarycarriage 7 is disposed eccentrically relatively to the guiding carriage 9 and the ruler 13 respectively so that it is always possible even'for extremely small angles included between the ordinate rail 1 and the ruler 13 to displace the drawing instrument at a proper distance from the ruler, the carriage 9 and ruler 13 being symmetrical so that the carriage may be placed on the ruler in two opposite positions as desired. The rotatable suspension of the guiding carriage 9 on the shaft 8 by means of a horizontal pivot shaft 15 warrants proper engagement of the carriage 9 on the ruler 13 without clearance independently of any sag of the ruler. Further, it is impossible that rotating movement is transmitted from the ruler 13 through the carriage 9 to the dial of the measuring instrument lfl when the'ruler is not in a strictly horizontal position. When the auxiliary polar equipment is no longer used for drawing exclusively in the rectangular system, the coupling clamp of'the ordinate carriage is opened and the coupling rod 17 is withdrawn from the ordinate carriage whereafter the auxiliary carriage is of two symmetrically located shifted to the end of the ordinate rail 1 moved from the ordinated rail 1.

Removal of the guiding carriage 9 from the ruler 13 and subsequent reengagement of the carriage 9 with the ruler is rendered easy by the slightly inclined guiding surfaces 12.

The coordinatogr-aph as shown is not only simple in construction, but has practical advantages. As an example, itis always possible to place the vertex of an angle to be or is entirely redrawn in any point of the drawing range because the.

auxiliary device for determining the angle is completely spaced from the ordinate carriage and may always be placed on the one or other side of the ordinate carriage so that the latter may be brought to any of its usual end positions.

A direct relation exists between the rectangular coordinate system and the angular or polar system because the drawing instrument and support for the same in the ordinate carriage 4 are the same for work in the rectangular system and in the polar system.

What is claimed is:

1. A coordinatograph comprising a table, carriage means adjustable according to rectangular coordinates above said table, means for exchangeably receiving a drawing instrument in said carriage means, a ruler in- Y eluding means for firmly attaching it to the table, said ruler being freely displaceable to any desired position on said table when its attaching means are inoperative,

guide means associated with said carriage means, adapted" to be coupled slidably but nonrotatively with said ruler, and an angle-measuring instrument on said carriage means operatively connected to said guide means for indicating the angular position of said guide means and ruler respectively relatively to said rectangular coordinates.

2. A coordinatograph according to claim 1, comprising a rail, a carriage displaceable along this rail, an auxiliary carriage removably placed on said rail at the side of said carriage and adapted for displacement along the rail, disengageable coupling means interconnecting said carriage and auxiliary carriage, said guide means and anglemeasuring instrument being mounted on said auxiliary carriage.

3. A coordinatograph according to claim. 2, comprising a coupling rod, fixing means for said rod on the carriage and auxiliary carriage, said fixing means allowing alternative fixation of the coupling rod with this rod extending to the one or other side of the carriage, it being thus possible to dispose said auxiliary carriage at each side of said carriage.

4. A coordinatograph according to claim 2, comprising a supporting shaft on said auxiliary carriage, said guiding means being eccentrically attached to said supporting shaft.

5. A coordinatograph according to claim 4, wherein said guiding means are rotatably mounted on a shaft extending in a direction perpendicularly to the direction of displacement of the guiding means.

6. A coordinatograph according to claim 2, wherein' References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 5/1932 Krebs ,33 2'3 3/1953 Murr 3323 HARRY N. HAROIAN, Primary Examiner, 

